White Wednesday

 

Visit Faded Charm for a list of White Wednesday participants!

 

Monday Mosaics - 5,400 Pink Peonies!

I found an interesting and fun website this week, Photosaic. You use your own photos (or their photo library if you want) to make mosaics.  I used my own photo from this summer of a pink peony.  In about 20 second I had a mosaic made up of 5,400 copies of my pink peony!   

Be sure to visit Mary at Little Red House to see lots, more mosaics.

An Incredible All American Performance

This performance by the US Naval Academy Kings Firecrackers is just incredible!  It's a lengthy video but honestly, you'll love it!

youtube

White Wednesday

Visit Kathleen, Faded Charm, for all the White Wednesday participants!

This milk glass cake pedestal was a wedding my parents received more than 61 years ago. I've always loved it and Mom gave it to me about ten years ago. I just cherish it! I've been collecting cake pedestals ever since.

Here's what I'm going to put on my pretty cake pedestal...

Angel Food Cake
12 egg whites
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons vanilla

Prepare your mixing bowl, whisk attachment, and tube/angel food cake pan by washing thoroughly and chilling. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Have all the ingredients at hand.

You're going to need an electric mixer. This is my trusty and much loved white Kitchen Aid. If you don't have a stand mixer you can use a hand mixer.

Separate the eggs, placing the whites in the chilled mixing bowl. Be careful not to get any yolk mixed in with the whites! Beat the egg whites with the mixer on high for a few seconds to break up the whites. Add the cream of tartar...

and the salt...

Beat the egg whites until they are light and frothy. Gradually add the granulated sugar to the egg whites as you beat them on high...

Sift the flour and powdered sugar together. Add 1/4 cup of this mix to the egg whites, mixing on low. Don't over beat - just until the flour in barely mixed...

Stop the mixer and turn the batter over a few times, gently folding to incorporate the flour

completely...

Pour the batter gently into a clean, dry tube/angel food pan. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 45 minutes.

Don't peak! You don't want your cake to fall. Remove from the oven when finished...

Turn the cake upside down to cool...

When the cake is cool use a knife to release the cake from the pan. Place it on a pretty cake plate and serve!

Now I'm off to check out the other white posts! Happy White Wednesday!

Our Family Summer Mosaic

Mary, Mary's Little Red House, is hosting Mosaic Monday's. I love mosaics! This is my first week to participate and I'm looking forward to seeing every one's mosaic creations. Stop by to visit Mary for a list of all the participants.

This week I am posting a mosaic of our family summer.

A Season For Everything

Yes, ladies, even I - despiser of all things Fall and Winter, have succumbed to the call of a new season of pictures. I admit once again, that I need to seriously adjust my attitude and be genuinely grateful for E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G! I have been working myself up lately in to a state of unhappiness over the end of summer. But seriously...do you know anyone who needs to be living on the beach more than me??? Uh oh...I fell off the gratitude wagon already! When reading today I came upon a couple of verses that were just the reminder I needed.

“Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.” Joel 2:23

Yes! God is merciful when life doesn't feel perfect!

And...

"There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven."
Ecclesiastes 3:1

Ahhh...His timing is perfect!

I can't promise I won't whine some more about the end of another summer, how much I adore the beach and seashells and flowers, etc...and how unhappy I am about the nearness of winter, and on and on and on! But I've decided to try to be more grateful and recognize the beauty of everything God provides. I'll acknowledge at least one thing every single day that I can enjoy and be grateful for just BECAUSE it's Autumn!

#1 I made this little front door wreath last year and I actually do remember what fun it was. I love the little scarecrow and I actually do love the leaves!

Whites

When I am asked what my favorite color is I always say pink and white. I love white! I was so excited when Kathleen, Faded Charm, started to host White Wednesday! Make sure to stop by to see the list of participants in this fun weekly meme. I am always amazed by not only the gorgeous collection of whites, but by the ingenious way so many clever women find to use and display them in their homes.

I looked for months last Fall and Winter to find the right lamps for my newly decorated family room. I really wanted vintage or at least lamps that looked vintage, but I needed floor lamps. I think that's a difficult combination to find. I love my husband dearly, but he just doesn't have a clue when it comes to decorating! And he would be the first to tell you that. He doesn't even care what I do in the house or where or how I find it, as long as it looks good in the end and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. He just says, "do your thing". He happened to be with me one day when I wanted to stop at Home Goods. He's a pretty easy going guy and happy to please, so we stopped to look one more time for lamps. I quickly walked through - and past - the lamps with a glance. Nope, nothing again. I wouldn't have thought that my sweet man had even heard me chatting away for all those weeks about lamps and vintage and color and fabric. Evidently, I was wrong! Sandy called me on the phone in Home Goods and said, "I found lamps. Let's go." I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw these gorgeous white wrought iron floor lamps with a vintage flare. They came with shades, which were also perfect - sage green with dusty pink roses. They were perfect lamps for our new room and I learned something new about my husband. He hears me!

I am hanging on to summer as long as I can! I really do know it's time to pack away my seas shells and put out the acorns, but I just can't do it yet! It feels like we missed the entire summer at home this year due to our sons wedding and lots of necessary traveling. I don't think we've been home for three straights weeks all summer long. When you live in Michigan, you CHERISH every single day of summer, because they are far and few between! So I've decided to enjoy my summer decorating for a while - haven't decided yet for how long...I might have to replace my shells with Santa this year!

One of the things I love about white is the many shades of white. Nature provides the most gorgeous samples.

This little white bird serves a double purpose - it hides a key in it's tummy!

A gift from my daughter, this white dried hydrangea wreath hangs on our fireplace all summer.

Last summer when my friend CeeKay, Thinkin' of Home, came to visit us for a month we did lots of shopping - surprise, surprise! We visited one of my favorite shops in town and found a gorgeous wall hanging that we both fell in love with. It was a framed wreath, which was filled with lovely vintage items. I had just redecorated our guest room and one wall remained unadorned. Both C and I had the same thought to make a similar wall hanging for my guest room. We took a picture of the original and kept our eyes open for vintage items to use for it. I found this gorgeous little white beaded hand bag, a damaged but still beautiful white hankie, white cotton gloves, and a precious little white hat. I placed the items in an under the bed storage drawer and forgot about the project! Now that I have revisited the storage drawer I'm going to find an appropriate frame and complete my project. I'll post the finished project - that will keep me on track to get it finished!

Finally, I want to show you what a talented daughter I have! For Mother's Day she made me this precious white cotton nightie. She has always loved smocking and decided last Winter to try her hand at it. Well, who knew? She's found her niche'! She BUILT her own wood pleater, bought some patterns, and started smocking. I believe this nightie was the third item she made. She made her girls each dresses first - simply gorgeous! So many people have asked her to teach them and to buy some of her creations that she started her own web page, Izzy Bee Baby and has been invited to teach hand smocking for Joanne Fabric. Stop by to see Julie's site.

Have a wonderful week, ladies!